pallid

[ pal-id ]

adjective

1. pale; faint or deficient in color; wan:

   a pallid countenance.

2. lacking in vitality or interest:

   a pallid musical performance.

pallid

/ ˈpælɪd /

adjective

1. lacking colour or brightness; wan

   a pallid complexion

2. lacking vigour; vapid

   a pallid performance

Derived Forms

• ˈpallidness, noun
• ˈpallidly, adverb

Other Words From

• pallid·ly adverb
• pallid·ness noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of pallid¹

First recorded in 1580–90; from Latin pallidus “sallow,” equivalent to pall(ēre) “to be pale” + -idus adjective suffix ( -id ⁴ )

Word History and Origins

Origin of pallid¹

C17: from Latin pallidus, from pallēre to be pale ¹

Synonym Study

See pale ¹.

Example Sentences

He looked frail and pallid — a shadow of the man Tawana knew.

From Los Angeles Times

It is all too easy to trace the skull beneath the Gazan boy’s face, the pallid skin stretching tight over every curve of bone and sagging with every hollow.

From New York Times

It is a nova, a nuclear explosion bursting forth from the pallid corpse of a long-dead star.

From New York Times

“Oppenheimer” is a tale of what we hath wrought, filtered through the experience of a man whose pallid complexion and tormented insularity make him look like an envoy from the Grim Reaper himself.

From Los Angeles Times

“The pallid bat is as diverse as Californians — pallid bats live in California’s deserts, oak woodlands, coastal redwood forests, and high up into the pine forests of the Sierra Nevada mountains,” the bill says.

From New York Times

Related Words

• anemic
• feeble
• ghastly
• lackluster
• sickly
• uninspired